This invention relates to valves and, more particularly, to novel and highly-effective valves for pressurizing or inflating large pneumatic enclosures, for instance the pneumatic tires of earth-moving equipment, and for maintaining the enclosures, once pressurized or inflated, under the desired pressure.
The diameter of tires for earth-moving equipment and other large machines in some cases exceeds three meters. The valves used heretofore for inflating tires of this type require a very long period of inflation, of the order of several tens of minutes. In order to reduce this period of time, it is conventional practice to employ a special tool to remove the valve tip, including the valve-sealing member and the valve seat, so that the inflation air can pass into the stem without encountering any substantial constriction.
The necessity of having a special inflation tool and of removing the assembly comprising the valve tip and the inner part of the valve from the path of inflation air and then putting this assembly back into place after inflation is a serious drawback of conventional valves for very large tires.